Fisheries is one of the new prominent areas of attention in the food processing sector and one of the chief sources of revenue for the state government. Both the government and the industry are keen to tap huge, under exploited potential, with considerable stress on exports. Even though the government is supporting the industry through various promotional measures, the seafood processing industries still face challenges which needs due attention. The problems faced by the industry in Kerala range from procurement of raw materials to export of finished products. The present study aims to evaluate these problems. 34 seafood processing units located in Ernakulam and Alleppey districts in Kerala were purposively drawn in a cross-sectional descriptive survey for the study. Data was collected by utilizing a structured questionnaire. The regression coefficients result of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) revealed that the major problems faced by the seafood processing industry were marketing, followed by problems with respect to export, production, procurement of raw materials, and finally finance. The results of Independent Sample t-test revealed that a significant difference existed between districts for export problems. The results of One-way ANOVA revealed that a significant difference existed between location of the seafood processing units and problems with respect to procurement, finance, marketing, and export. The results of Pearson’s Correlation revealed that a significant relationship was found between overall problems and each problem faced by the seafood processing industry in Kerala.

Fisheries sector, seafood processing industry, marketing, export